Clinton, the pathological narcissist

By

That's the phraseology of Dr. Bob Godwin, clinical psychologist and blogger extraordinaire at One Cosmos.

Clinton's pathetic performance with Chris Wallace this weekend was a wonderfully revealing moment. While the purpose of his humiliated fury was to try to destroy the eyes of the world, for those of us with eyes that survived the attack, it simply cemented the perception of him as a world class pathological narcissist.

You see, narcissists are

subject to wide mood swings, the reason being that their mood regulation is not internalized but is dependent upon external circumstances.

Check.

Narcissists are quite brittle, the reason being that they attempt to bypass their shame by erecting a facade of grandiosity. But when the grandiosity is poked or prodded, the narcissist will bristle. He might well accuse you of having a 'little smirk' on your face or being part of a right—wing conspiracy

Check.

the most severe narcissists can often appear to be the most outwardly accomplished. One of the reasons for this is that the more severe the narcissism, the more driven they are to accomplish something in accordance with their grandiosity.

Check.

underneath the smooth and competent facade, these individuals show a preponderance of shame over guilt, the latter of which is much more healthy. For example, in response to Wallace's question about Clinton's well known failures to take terrorism seriously, a non—narcissist would simply have said, 'hey, my bad. [....]

But for a narcissist, this kind of guilt instantly descends into shame, which cannot be tolerated. The EJECT SHAME NOW button has been pushed——therefore, the finger in the face and the shrill accusations of unfairness and right wing conspiracies

Read the whole thing.

Thomas Lifson 9 25 06

That's the phraseology of Dr. Bob Godwin, clinical psychologist and blogger extraordinaire at One Cosmos.

Clinton's pathetic performance with Chris Wallace this weekend was a wonderfully revealing moment. While the purpose of his humiliated fury was to try to destroy the eyes of the world, for those of us with eyes that survived the attack, it simply cemented the perception of him as a world class pathological narcissist.

You see, narcissists are

subject to wide mood swings, the reason being that their mood regulation is not internalized but is dependent upon external circumstances.

Check.

Narcissists are quite brittle, the reason being that they attempt to bypass their shame by erecting a facade of grandiosity. But when the grandiosity is poked or prodded, the narcissist will bristle. He might well accuse you of having a 'little smirk' on your face or being part of a right—wing conspiracy

Check.

the most severe narcissists can often appear to be the most outwardly accomplished. One of the reasons for this is that the more severe the narcissism, the more driven they are to accomplish something in accordance with their grandiosity.

Check.

underneath the smooth and competent facade, these individuals show a preponderance of shame over guilt, the latter of which is much more healthy. For example, in response to Wallace's question about Clinton's well known failures to take terrorism seriously, a non—narcissist would simply have said, 'hey, my bad. [....]

But for a narcissist, this kind of guilt instantly descends into shame, which cannot be tolerated. The EJECT SHAME NOW button has been pushed——therefore, the finger in the face and the shrill accusations of unfairness and right wing conspiracies